Ericsson: 5G is open for business

Ericsson: 5G is open for business

5G is one of the most important infrastructures for Thailand 4.0. 5G’s low latency, ultra-high speeds and high reliability is required for industrial use cases such as factories for the future

Thailand needs to view the availability of harmonized spectrum to serve as critical national infrastructure

Bangkok, Thailand – Wuttichai Wutti-Udomlert, Head of Network Solutions of Ericsson Thailand spoke on the topic of “5G is open for business” at a 5G seminar organized by Office of National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) on July 19, 2018.

“4G and IoT are the foundation of 5G. Thai operators need to make sure their 4G and IoT networks are in shape and 5G ready.“ said Wuttichai. “Globally, major 5G deployments are expected from 2020. Ericsson forecasts over 1 billion 5G subscriptions for enhanced mobile broadband by the end of 2023, accounting for around 12 percent of all mobile subscriptions.” Wuttichai shared the findings from the Ericsson Mobility Report, June 2018 edition.

Mobile data traffic is estimated to surge by eight times during the forecast period to reach close to 107 exabytes (EB) per month – a figure that is equal to every mobile subscriber worldwide streaming full HD video for 10 hours. By 2023, more than 20 percent of mobile data traffic worldwide is expected to be carried by 5G networks. This is 1.5 times more than the total 4G/3G/2G traffic today.

5G is expected to be deployed first in dense urban areas with enhanced mobile broadband and fixed wireless access as the first commercial use cases. Other use cases will come from industries such as automotive, manufacturing, utilities, and healthcare.

For Thailand, in 2026, there will be an anticipated 22 percent revenue opportunity for telecom operators addressing industry digitalization with 5G and IoT. The largest opportunity for operator-addressable 5G-related revenues will be in the manufacturing (20%) and energy and utilities sectors (16%) followed by Public Safety, Healthcare, Public Transport and Media and Entertainment with 12% each.

Wuttichai said: “In order to prepare for 5G, we as an industry need to start discussing the availability of harmonized licensed spectrum, which will be backbone of the connected ecosystem. In addition, Thai operators and the government need to view both spectrum and the mobile networks as critical national infrastructure.“

“Ericsson, with our portfolio of 5G ready Network solutions, is the partner of choice to help operators in Thailand for seamless 5G transition” Wuttichai added.